JP2007046178A - Stainproof fiber structural product - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a highly stainproof fiber structural product in view of such problems involved in conventional these products as the decline in stainproofness durability, constituent fibers' functions and physical properties, and processability, etc., although for metal oxide microparticles with photocatalytic activity, the activity has been studied to utilize as the stainproofness of such products so far. <P>SOLUTION: The stainproof fiber structural product comprises multilayer-structured fibers in such a way that porous layers and dense layers are alternately arranged, wherein stainproof fibers with metal oxide microparticles having photocatalytic activity contained in the dense layers are used at least part of this product. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention has a multilayer structure in which a porous layer and a dense layer are alternately arranged, and has an antifouling fiber having at least a part of antifouling fibers containing metal oxide fine particles having photocatalytic activity in the dense layer. The present invention relates to a dirty fiber structure.

The metal oxide fine particles having photocatalytic activity generate electrons and holes when irradiated with light. Since the generated electrons have a high reducing power and the holes have a high oxidizing power, organic substances can be decomposed. The use of this property as an antifouling function has been actively studied in recent years.

For example, in Patent Documents 1 and 2, metal oxide fine particles having photocatalytic activity such as titanium oxide are fixed to the entire surface of the fiber structure via a silane coupling agent or an organic binder to impart antifouling properties. . However, the fixed metal oxide fine particles easily fall off due to friction or washing, and have a limit in terms of durability. In addition, since the entire fiber structure is covered with a silane coupling agent or an organic binder, the useful functions inherent to the fiber structure cannot be fully utilized, or the functions can be fully utilized. However, problems such as considerable contrivance arise. Furthermore, when the fiber structure contains fibers that are vulnerable to oxidation / reduction, the metal oxide fine particles having photocatalytic activity are also fixed to the fibers, so that the deterioration of the fibers is promoted, and the entire fiber structure There is a possibility of lowering the durability.

Patent Document 3 discloses a fiber in which composite metal oxide fine particles having photocatalytic activity and containing titanium oxide and silicon oxide are dispersed and held in rayon fiber, and a fiber structure containing the fiber is disclosed. It has been shown that washing durability is excellent. In addition, it is also described that a fiber structure composed of 100% of the fiber is excellent in antifouling property. However, when the fiber is used in combination with a general-purpose fiber to form a fiber structure, the general-purpose fiber is prevented. Since the dirt function is not given, the antifouling property as the whole fiber structure becomes unsatisfactory.

In this regard, if the fiber includes a metal oxide having photocatalytic activity in the porous fiber described in Patent Document 4, the fiber structure used in combination with the general-purpose fiber has many pores and a surface area. A large amount of dirt substances are adsorbed on the wide porous fibers, and the amount of dirt substances attached to the general-purpose fibers is reduced. Therefore, it is considered that the antifouling property is high when viewed as a whole fiber structure. However, porous fibers have problems in the processing stage because they have difficulty in spinning processability (electrostatic generation), dyeability (coloring property), and the like.
JP 2000-265364 A JP 2000-303352 A JP 2004-162245 A JP-A-10-57816

As described above, the fiber structure having antifouling properties in the prior art has problems with durability of the antifouling function, functional aspects of the fibers constituting the fiber structure, influence on physical properties, processability, etc. It had a point. This invention is made | formed in view of these problems, The subject is providing the fiber structure excellent in antifouling property.

As a result of diligent studies to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present inventor has reached the present invention shown below.

(1) A multi-layer structure fiber in which a porous layer and a dense layer are alternately arranged, and an antifouling fiber in which metal oxide fine particles having photocatalytic activity are contained in the dense layer is used at least in part. An antifouling fiber structure characterized by that.
(2) The antifouling fiber structure according to (1), wherein the antifouling fiber has a pore surface area of 10 to 40 m ² / g.
(3) The antifouling fiber structure according to (1) or (2), wherein the metal oxide fine particles are titanium oxide.
(4) The antifouling fiber structure according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein the metal oxide fine particles have a particle size of 10 to 100 nm.
(5) The antifouling according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein 1 to 10 parts by weight of metal oxide fine particles are contained with respect to 100 parts by weight of the base of the antifouling fiber. Fiber structure.

Since the antifouling fiber structure of the present invention employs a fiber containing metal oxide fine particles having photocatalytic activity as the antifouling fiber, it decomposes dirt substances adhering to the fiber surface by light irradiation. Can do. Further, since the antifouling fiber has a multilayer structure in which the porous layer and the dense layer are alternately arranged, a large amount of dirt substances are adsorbed to the porous layer having many pores and a large surface area. The adhesion of dirt to other fibers constituting the object is suppressed. Furthermore, the dirt substance enters the pores of the porous layer and becomes inconspicuous. The antifouling fiber structure of the present invention having both of these functions exhibits excellent antifouling properties. In addition, the antifouling fiber employed in the present invention is excellent in processability when making it into a fiber structure such as spinnability and dyeability, so that the antifouling fiber structure of the present invention is also used in the production process. It is easy to handle.

The present invention is described in detail below. In the antifouling fiber employed in the present invention, it is necessary that the base fiber is a multilayer structure fiber in which a porous layer and a dense layer are alternately arranged in the fiber cross-sectional direction. The structure of the multilayer structure fiber is a multilayer structure of two or more layers consisting of one porous layer and one dense layer. In the case of three or more layers, the porous layers and the dense layers are alternately arranged. Furthermore, metal oxide fine particles having photocatalytic activity are contained on the dense layer side. The metal oxide fine particles may be contained on the porous layer side as long as they are contained on the dense layer side, but the fine particles on the porous layer side easily fall off, and are also contained on the dense layer side. If sufficient, a sufficient function can be obtained. Therefore, it is preferable to contain it only on the dense layer side from the viewpoint of cost.

As described above, the base fiber in the antifouling fiber employed in the present invention is a multilayer structure fiber in which a porous layer and a dense layer are alternately arranged, and the pore surface area of the fiber is preferably 10 to 10. 40 m ² / g, further preferably at 20 to 40 m ² / g. When the pore surface area of the fiber is less than 10 m ² / g, the adsorption area of the dirt substance becomes small and the adsorption amount of the dirt substance decreases, so that the adhesion of dirt to other fibers constituting the fiber structure increases. In some cases, the degree of contamination of the entire fiber structure may increase. Moreover, when it exceeds 40 m < ² > / g, there exists a possibility of producing difficulty in workability, such as spinnability (static electricity) and dyeability (coloring property).

The multilayer structure fiber is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include polyester fiber, polyamide fiber, polyolefin fiber, ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer fiber, polyvinyl chloride fiber, polyvinylidene chloride fiber, polyurethane fiber, and acrylic fiber. Fiber, polyvinyl alcohol fiber, polyclar fiber, fluorine fiber, protein-acrylonitrile copolymer fiber, polyglycolic acid fiber, phenol resin fiber and other synthetic fibers, acetate fiber and other semi-synthetic fibers, rayon and cupra Mention may be made of fibers. Among them, acrylic fiber made of acrylonitrile polymer is most suitable as the multilayer structure fiber because it has high resistance to photocatalytic activity.

The multilayer structure fiber in which the porous layer and the dense layer are alternately arranged is a so-called composite fiber made of the same or different polymer. As a means for obtaining such a multilayer structure fiber, it can be arbitrarily selected from known composite fiber production methods (side-by-side type, random composite type), but preferably 2 as described in JP-B-59-7802. A so-called random composite type, in which a component stock spinning solution is passed through a registered trade name Kenics Mixer (manufactured by Kenix, USA) and ISG Mixer with an arbitrary number of elements, and a composite flow is guided and discharged by a flow dividing plate of a mouthpiece introduction hole. By adopting, the object of the present invention can be advantageously achieved.

The antifouling fiber employed in the present invention contains metal oxide fine particles having photocatalytic activity. Such metal oxide fine particles are substances that generate electrons and holes on the surface thereof when irradiated with ultraviolet rays, and generate active oxygen having strong oxidizing power from the surrounding water and oxygen. Specifically, Se, Ge, Si, Ti, Zn, Cu, Al, Sn, Ga, In, P, As, Sb, C, Cd, S, Te, Ni, Fe, Co, Ag, Mo, Sr , W, Cr, Ba, Pb and other compounds such as oxides which are insoluble in water. Among these, one selected from titanium oxide, zinc oxide and tungsten oxide alone or in combination of two or more is preferable, and titanium oxide is preferably used from the viewpoint of safety and price.

Further, the particle diameter of the metal oxide fine particles having photocatalytic activity is not particularly limited, but the average primary particle diameter is preferably 10 to 100 nm, more preferably 10 to 50 nm, still more preferably 15 to 30 nm. It is desirable to be. Of course, the smaller the average primary particle diameter is, the higher the activity as a photocatalyst is. However, when the average primary particle diameter is less than 10 nm, the handleability (dust) and dispersibility (aggregation) when contained in the fiber are improved. May cause problems. On the other hand, when the average primary particle diameter exceeds 100 nm, there is a possibility that a sufficient function cannot be obtained.

The amount of the metal oxide fine particles having photocatalytic activity can be selected from a wide range according to the required antifouling property. If the amount of the fine particles is small, the necessary ability may not be obtained, and if it is too much, the ability is excellent, but the base fiber may be deteriorated or the physical properties of the fiber may be impaired. The amount is preferably 1 to 10 parts by weight, more preferably 1.5 to 8 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of the fiber matrix.

Below, the manufacturing method of the acrylic fiber using two types of polymers from which acrylonitrile content differs as an example of the manufacturing method of the antifouling fiber employ | adopted for this invention is explained in full detail. First, as the polyacrylonitrile-based polymer, a homopolymer or a copolymer with a known monomer can be used, but acrylonitrile (hereinafter also referred to as AN) is used for both of the two types of polymers that are mixed to form a fiber. It is desirable that the ratio is 60% by weight or more, more preferably 80% by weight or more. Also, the difference in the acrylonitrile content of the two types of polymers requires a certain degree of difference in the respective densification conditions in order to make one porous layer and the other dense layer under the same spinning conditions. It is preferable that the difference is 1% by weight or more, preferably 2% by weight or more.

The comonomer used for copolymerization is not particularly limited as long as it is copolymerizable with acrylonitrile, such as a polymerizable unsaturated vinyl compound. For example, alkyl acrylate, alkyl methacrylate, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, methacrylonitrile, acrylamide, chloride Vinyl, vinyl bromide, vinyl fluoride, vinylidene chloride, vinylidene bromide, styrene, styrene sulfonic acid, allyl sulfonic acid, methallyl sulfonic acid, styrene sulfonate, allyl sulfonate, methallyl sulfonate, ethylene, Propylene or the like can be used.

As a method of forming a fiber by mixing the two kinds of acrylonitrile polymers as described above, after dissolving two kinds of acrylonitrile polymers individually in a solvent of polyacrylonitrile, the polymer solution is subjected to specific spinning. Examples thereof include a method of introducing a side-by-side type into an apparatus / die, and a method of introducing a random composite type by introducing two types of polymer solutions into a spinning die through an undiluted multilayer forming apparatus. Above all, the random composite type is recommended because it can obtain a fiber having a multilayer structure exceeding two layers. The metal oxide fine particles having photocatalytic activity are added to the polymer solution on the dense layer side or added to the polymer to prepare a spinning dope.

Such a random composite type acrylic fiber is manufactured, for example, as follows. First, the respective polymers are dissolved in a solvent to obtain two spinning stock solutions (a, b). These two types of stock solutions a and b are guided to a stock solution multilayer forming apparatus. Examples of such devices include the registered trade name Kenics Mixer or ISG Mixer, which are static mixers, but the device allows the stock solution to pass 2-10 times the number of stock layers on the supply side. It is sent from the exit side. The number of layers of the stock solution formed by using a plurality of such devices can be freely set.

A spinneret is mounted on the outlet side of the stock solution multilayer forming apparatus. When the stock solution formed in the n layer as a, b, a, b,... is supplied to the spinneret having the hole number H, the number of stock solution layers supplied to one hole of the spinning hole is on average. It is proportional to n / H ^0.5 . The proportionality coefficient depends on the apparatus conditions such as the stock solution multilayer forming apparatus, the shape of the spinneret (arrangement of the spinning holes), the mounting direction of the base, and so on, depending on the number of layers required for the cross section of one fiber These conditions are met.

The spinning dope discharged from the spinneret is subjected to coagulation, water washing and stretching processes, followed by wet heat treatment. At this time, solidification conditions and wet heat treatment conditions are set so that one is a dense layer and the other is a porous layer. In addition, the wet heat treatment here means a treatment in which heating is performed in an atmosphere of saturated steam or superheated steam. Then, the antifouling fiber employ | adopted for this invention is obtained by drying at the temperature which a porous layer does not densify.

Even if the AN content is the same, for example, a different comonomer is used in the present invention so that the comonomer of one AN polymer is hydrophilic and the other is hydrophobic. It is possible to obtain antifouling fibers.

In the antifouling fiber employed in the present invention thus obtained, metal oxide fine particles having photocatalytic activity are contained in a dense layer of a multilayer structure fiber in which a porous layer and a dense layer are alternately arranged. Therefore, in addition to the fact that a lot of dirt substances are adsorbed on the porous layer and get into the pores and become inconspicuous, it is decomposed by the metal oxide having the photocatalytic activity of the dense layer in contact with the porous layer. It is considered to have an excellent function. Furthermore, since the metal oxide fine particles having photocatalytic activity are contained in the dense layer, the fine particles can be prevented from falling off during dyeing, and have excellent washing durability. In addition, it is possible to suppress deterioration of spinnability and dyeability due to generation of static electricity caused in the case of a fiber having only a porous layer.

The antifouling fiber structure of the present invention is a fiber structure using at least a part of the antifouling fiber described above, and even if it consists only of the antifouling fiber, cotton, wool, It may be mixed with other fibers such as polyester fiber, acrylic fiber, nylon fiber and the like. In addition, when mixed with other fibers, the type and mixing ratio of the other fibers are not particularly limited, and may be appropriately selected according to the characteristics required for the final product. When the content of the dirty fiber is small, the antifouling performance as a fiber structure becomes poor. Therefore, the content is preferably 5% by weight or more, more preferably 10% by weight or more. In addition, examples of the mixed use form of the antifouling fibers include mixed cotton in spinning and cross-twisting in the fine spinning / twisting process, but are not limited thereto.

As the appearance form of the antifouling fiber structure of the present invention, yarn, yarn (including wrap yarn), filament, woven fabric, knitted fabric, non-woven fabric, paper-like material, sheet-like material, laminate, cotton And the like (including spherical and massive). The inclusion form of the fiber of the present invention in the structure is substantially uniformly distributed by mixing with other materials, and in the case of a structure having a plurality of layers, either layer (single or plural) There are things that are concentrated in the (good) and others that are distributed at a specific ratio in each layer.

Therefore, the antifouling fiber structure of the present invention has innumerable combinations of the appearance form and the inclusion form exemplified above. What kind of structure is to be used is appropriately determined in consideration of the usage mode of the final product, the required performance, the way the antifouling fibers contribute to exhibiting such performance, and the like.

The antifouling fiber structure of the present invention can be used for various applications that require antifouling properties, such as clothing, footwear, interior goods such as curtains and carpets, seats such as chairs, sofas, and vehicle seats. It is useful for various applications including wood materials, wall coverings such as house walls and furniture, interior materials such as automobiles and trains, and air filters.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although this invention is demonstrated based on an Example, this invention is not limited to an Example. In the following examples, “%” or “part” means “% by weight” or “part by weight” unless otherwise specified. The evaluation test methods used in the examples and comparative examples are as follows.

[Evaluation of pore surface area]
Cut the fibers 10mg to short fibers were evaluated varied manufactured by Shimadzu Corporation MICROMERITICS Auto Pore IV to mercury pressure ^{4.14 × 10 -2 ~4.14 × 10 2} MPa. Since the obtained pore surface area (A1) includes inter-fiber voids, the pore surface area of the fiber was determined by subtracting the inter-fiber void (A2) according to the following formula.
Fiber pore surface area = A1-A2
A1: pore surface area of the mercury pressure ^{4.14 × 10 -2 ~4.14 × 10 2} MPa A2: pore surface area of the mercury pressure 4.14 × ¹⁰ -2 ~1.38MPa

[Evaluation of the number of multilayered layers]
After 200 fibers were drawn and hardened with wax, a thin sample with a thickness of 50 nm was prepared in the fiber cross-sectional direction using a microtome 2065 manufactured by Leica. The prepared flake sample was observed with an optical microscope AFX-II manufactured by Nikon, the number of layers per fiber was counted, and the average number of 200 layers was defined as the number of multilayered layers. Note that the number of layers can be more easily counted by thinly coloring the thin sample with a dye or the like.

[Example 1]
Spinning stock solution (A) consisting of acrylonitrile copolymer consisting of acrylonitrile, methyl acrylate, sodium methallyl sulfonate 90% and acrylonitrile content consisting of acrylonitrile, methyl acrylate, sodium methallyl sulfonate A spinning stock solution (B) comprising 88% acrylonitrile copolymer and titanium oxide fine particles (TK522 manufactured by Teika Co., Ltd.) having an average primary particle size of 15 nm is supplied to ISG Mixer (theoretical stock solution layer number 432) at a ratio of 1: 1. Were mixed and multilayered and wet-spun. Here, a sodium thiocyanate aqueous solution was used as a solvent for the acrylonitrile copolymer. The titanium oxide fine particles were adjusted to 5 parts with respect to 100 parts of the acrylonitrile polymer of the spinning dope (B). A 12% aqueous sodium thiocyanate solution was used at 1.5 ° C. as the coagulation liquid. Next, washing with water and hot drawing are performed, and the obtained fiber is subjected to a steam treatment at 115 ° C. in a relaxed state without being dried, and further dried at 110 ° C. for 15 minutes to be adopted in the present invention which is a random composite type acrylic fiber. An antifouling fiber was obtained. Table 1 shows the pore surface area and the number of multilayered layers of the obtained fibers.

[Comparative Example 1]
An evaluation fiber was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that only the spinning stock solution (C) made of an acrylonitrile copolymer having an acrylonitrile content of 88% consisting of acrylonitrile, methyl acrylate and sodium methallyl sulfonate was used. Obtained. Table 1 shows the pore surface area and the number of multilayered layers of the obtained fibers.

[Comparative Example 2]
An evaluation fiber was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the spinning dope (A) in Example 1 was used instead of the spinning dope (B) in Example 1. Table 1 shows the pore surface area and the number of multilayered layers of the obtained fibers.

[Example 2]
In place of the spinning dope (B) of Example 1, titanium oxide fine particles (TAF-520J manufactured by Fuji Titanium Co., Ltd.) having an acrylonitrile content of 88% and an average primary particle size of 100 nm consisting of acrylonitrile, methyl acrylate and sodium methallylsulfonate. The evaluation fiber was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the spinning stock solution (D) consisting of The titanium oxide fine particles were adjusted to 0.5 parts with respect to 100 parts of the acrylonitrile polymer of the spinning dope (D). Table 1 shows the pore surface area and the number of multilayered layers of the obtained fibers.

[Example 3]
An antifouling fiber for evaluation was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that 12% sodium rhodanate was used as the coagulation liquid at 5 ° C. Table 1 shows the pore surface area and the number of multilayered layers of the obtained fibers.

[Example 4]
In place of the titanium oxide TK522 manufactured by Teika Co., Ltd. used in Example 1, titanium oxide fine particles having an average primary particle diameter of 5 nm (titanium oxide AMT100 manufactured by Teika Co., Ltd.) were used, and the titanium oxide fine particles were used instead of the spinning dope (B). Is the same as in Example 1 except that the spinning stock solution (E) is adjusted to 2.5 parts with respect to 100 parts of the acrylonitrile copolymer in the spinning stock solution (B). A dirty fiber was obtained. Table 1 shows the pore surface area and the number of multilayered layers of the obtained fibers.

[Example 5]
For evaluation in the same manner as in Example 1 except that titanium oxide fine particles having an average primary particle size of 30 nm (titanium oxide AMT600 manufactured by Teika Co., Ltd.) are used in place of the titanium oxide TK522 manufactured by Teika Co., Ltd. used in Example 1. An antifouling fiber was obtained. Table 1 shows the pore surface area and the number of multilayered layers of the obtained fibers.

About each fiber obtained by the said Example and comparative example, the said fiber is 40%, acrylic fiber NB8-3.3TV64 (made by Nippon Exlan Industry Co., Ltd.) 30%, K65-2.8TV64 (Nippon Exlan Industry ( Co., Ltd.) was mixed 30% and spun according to a conventional method to obtain a spun yarn having a metric count of 2/10. A white mat having a pile length of 14 mm and a weight per unit area of 850 g / m ² was prepared from the obtained spun yarn by a sewing machine.

The resulting mat was cut into a 30cm x 30cm square and left for 2 weeks in a smoking room without a fluorescent lamp. A result like 1 was obtained.

Subsequently, the above-mentioned soiled mat was left outdoors for 2 days and exposed to sunlight, and the degree of soil degradation was evaluated in the following three stages.
○: almost the same as before the dirt is attached Δ: some dirt remains ×: almost the same as the state after the dirt is attached

As is clear from the results in Table 1, in the antifouling fiber structures of Examples 1, 3, 4, and 5, the degree of soiling of the entire fiber structure is small, and the soiling substances are decomposed by exposure to sunlight. And had an excellent antifouling property of returning to almost the same state as before the dirt was adhered. In addition, although the antifouling fiber of Example 3 is likely to generate static electricity by carding at the time of spinning and the workability of spinning is somewhat low, the temperature / humidity at the time of processing or the mixing ratio is optimized. It was sufficiently practical. Further, in preparing the antifouling fiber of Example 4, when preparing an aqueous dispersion of titanium oxide fine particles, the titanium oxide fine particles easily become dust, and it is necessary to wear a dust mask, etc. However, it is difficult to disperse to primary particles, and it takes a considerable amount of time for dispersion.

In the antifouling fiber structure of Example 2, the degree of soiling of the entire fiber structure is small, and the soiling material can be decomposed by exposure to sunlight. Since the particle size of titanium oxide contained in the antifouling fiber employed is as large as 100 nm and the content is small, it is considered that the portion that works effectively as a photocatalyst is reduced, and the degree of decomposition is slightly reduced.

In Comparative Example 1, since the pore surface area was small, the degree of soiling of the entire fiber structure was large, and since it did not contain titanium oxide, the soil was not decomposed even when exposed to sunlight. In Comparative Example 2, the pore surface area was large and the degree of soiling of the entire fiber structure was small. However, since it did not contain titanium oxide, the soil was not decomposed even when exposed to sunlight.

Claims (5)

A multi-layer structure fiber in which a porous layer and a dense layer are alternately arranged, and an antifouling fiber containing metal oxide fine particles having photocatalytic activity in the dense layer is used at least in part. Antifouling fiber structure. The antifouling fiber structure according to claim 1, wherein the antifouling fiber has a pore surface area of 10 to 40 m ² / g. The antifouling fiber structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the metal oxide fine particles are titanium oxide. The antifouling fiber structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the metal oxide fine particles have a particle diameter of 10 to 100 nm. The antifouling fiber structure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein 1 to 10 parts by weight of metal oxide fine particles are contained with respect to 100 parts by weight of the base of the antifouling fiber.